Fellows in Music Composition

Orbón, Julian

Julian Orbón (b. 1926, Asturias-d. 1991, Miami Beach): Born in Spain, Orbón began traveling to Cuba with his family in 1932 and settled there permanently in 1940. His first piano teacher was his father, Benjamín Orbón, but he also studied under Aaron Copland, who once called him “the most gifted composer of his generation.” In 1942, he became one of the founders of El Grupo de Renovación Musical, which worked to gain international recognition for Latin American symphonic music. Orbón eventually took over his father’s studio in Havana, and also wrote music reviews for the newspaper Alerta. He left Cuba for the United States in 1963. Orbon’s compositions include pieces for orchestras, chamber music, choral works and music for piano and voice. He was the winner of the Juan Landaeta Award for his Three Symphonic Versions in the first Latin American Music Festival in Caracas. He is the author of La Esencia de los estilos, published by Colibrí. (Cintas for music, 1963-64, 1964-65)